Fun Mother's and Father's Day Gift Ideas

Being a mildly creative person I wanted to do something fun for my mom, grandma and mother-in-law for mother's day last year. I wanted it to be personalized and unique to MLO. Several companies in our area do hand and foot prints of your baby in clay that they glaze and fire and they look beautiful but cost a bit more than I was interested in paying. Additionally, I wanted to make something so that both MLO and I had our stamps on it, so to speak. Another mom suggested going to our local 'paint-your-own-pottery' shop to stamp MLO's foot prints on something (hand prints are next to impossible, even for a 1 year old- they just clench). All of the adults in our extended families drink coffee, so I went down, picked out mugs and painted away.

There are a few keys to success:

1. Bring someone else to handle baby. I brought my mother-in-law which allowed her to pick out the colors she wanted on her mug.
2. Don't try to reprint baby's footprint if the first one didn't quite make it. If you have to, paint in the toes.
3. The imprint is a three person job- Grandma held MLO, while an employee held baby's foot still and I rolled the mug across MLOs foot.
4. The older the baby, the harder it is. I took MLO just after his birthday to finally make a mug for myself and he was far more difficult to entertain at 12 months than he was at 2 and 3. He also was more engaged during the imprint, which proved more challenging as he tried to pull away.
5. Use a lighter color as the base color and use a very dark color for the footprint. You don't get the advantage of multiple layers of paint for the imprint so it's important that the print be much darker in color than the base color.

I ended up with some really cute mugs that were totally DIY. They were not professional quality, but hey, they're going to your parents. I love the idea of making something for your folks that includes an aspect of your child so that they benefit from a double dose of personalized gift giving!

A less DIY but totally personalized gift option is the photo mug or calendar. I use Snapfish to create mine. Photo mugs are actually a bit cheaper than the paint your own options, and they are totally cheesy, but grandparents love them. Calendars are great around Christmas time since the new year is about to start. I used pictures from each month of MLO's first year and it was so cute. Already we have compared MLO this year to MLO last year  using the calendars and it's fun to see.

A slightly more personalized option is the brag book. You can find classy looking ones at CR Gibson or Etsy or you can make one yourself. Giving the book already filled with pictures personalizes it and makes it more meaningful. This gift is more of a grandma gift, since they usually have purses with ample enough room to carry such an object. For a similar idea you can get a relatively inexpensive digital photo frame with a memory card already filled with pictures of your little one and/or your family through the years. This works great for dads as it's something they can have at work.

Those are my ideas, what are yours?

Adventures in Baby-Feeding

So we have had some changes in the little one's diet. My milk supply was drying up (only enough for about 2 feedings a day) so I started supplementing with formula. I was pumping every 2 to 3 hours to try to increase my supply, but it wasn't working. I decided it was a losing battle so I switched to formula only, no more mommy milk. I was a little sad about the situation, but what could I do? My son then had his 4 month check-up at the doctor, and while there the doctor was asking me if I started solids yet. No. Well, he wanted me to try introducing some veggies for the next few weeks. Off to the store to get baby food. I don't have a baby food maker yet so I just bought the jars of baby food for now. I am open to suggestions on a good baby food maker. We started with carrots. Now I was expecting a little gagging or funny faces or something. What I got was "mmmmmmmm" and a lot of excited licking of the spoon. He loved the veggies! I then tried sweet potatoes and got much of the same again, pleasure. You don't know how excited I am that he likes his veggies. I am just hoping he gets the hang of eating off the spoon real soon because this licking stunt is very messy.

New Things, New Progressions

At 9 months of age, my little J has grown and developed so much, as do all babies of course. He continues to light up my life each and every day. I have learned to take notice to his needs as they have changed - his desire to play with his toys, our dog, and with me. He likes to mix things up, but is also really good at individual play, which is so nice when I need to get things done. J is so easy when it comes to eating solids, too. At six months, I began to puree his foods and haven't stopped. I make and freeze a bunch of different items - pears, apples, butternut squash, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Before him, I don't think I had ever shelled an English Pea! He loves prunes, which are so easy to puree - I buy organic prunes, put them in a bowl covered with boiling water, let them sit until plump, drain, and puree. He loves them with his oatmeal. For his oatmeal, I just grind up the dry oats and cook as you normally would cook rolled oats. I also buy, and sometimes mix, organic short brown rice and pearled barley; cook it in boiling water until very soft and then puree it. I haven't spent a dime on his foods since I would buy all of these items anyways. I can't justify the theory that having kids is so expensive? Now, I know that will change when the day comes for him to say, "Mama, I want this." And I am sure I will cave in at times!

J also has six teeth now - always got two at a time. He never fails to show them through his constant smiles. With his last two he did great and was not fussy at all. We also had our 9-month check-up recently and the doctor put my mind at ease with his one-time-a-night wakings to nurse as she enlightened me with the notion that he is less than a year old and a growing boy who still needs his fillings. Most babies can go all night at this point with no extra feedings, but since he really wants/needs it, I don't question it.

He has and continues to pronounce the three first consonants - m's, d's, and b's. "Mama" came first in December, then "Dada" came in January and continues, followed by "baba." He also spent the last few months rolling everywhere and made sure that was the best way for him to get around. Following his constant rolls, he has since turned to the "army crawl," using great upper body strength. While he often likes to get up on all fours and crawl now, he still seems to like the feeling of moving forward on his belly and mainly using his arms. His targets are wires, shoes, fireplace tools, and our dog - who is so wonderful with him as she lets him pull and bite her ears, and slap at her face and feet. J also has become a pro at the "down dog" yoga pose, and even "plank." And he recently learned how to give people "high-five," which is so sweet to receive.

It's each new day that brings on these little sweet things, reinforcing the joy that I never knew a year ago.

A Weaning

MLO and I struggled with nursing these last few months. I screwed up my milk supply and had barely enough to get us through the day. The nursing first thing was the only really good feeding we had. The others, generally occurring at 3 hour intervals thereafter, were low volume, and he tended to fuss for much of the time. By March we had, for the most part, dropped the latest feeding (occurring between 3 and 4 PM), sort of accidentally. Neither of us remembered, and with all that exciting solid food he didn't seem to mind. So, on March 1st I stopped the other feedings all together. For the first two weeks of March we nestled close in the mornings and shared our beloved morning routine. It wasn't the quiet, focused feedings we shared months prior. He pulled off and looked around, poked my belly button and would seem to lose interest entirely, only to cry when I buttoned myself up, so to speak.

One morning in mid-March he woke up, and instead of expressing interest in my chest he seemed to want to get down and play. So I let him. And then it struck me, "He isn't asking to nurse. You wanted to nurse for a year, but no longer. Let's just stop." With a twinge of loss and nostalgia I fed my son a meal of eggs and cheerios and he hasn't looked back. I both miss nursing and relish not having to do it. The quiet moments spent holding each other that led to long gazes into each other's eyes are no longer. These days I can hardly get MLO to sit still long enough to hug and kiss him before he pushes my face away and slips from my lap. I have to admit, though, that I don't miss the pressing feeling of obligation that came like clockwork to find a quiet place to nurse. I don't miss sitting alone in a room to avoid the constant distractions that led to MLO's patented nurse and pull-off, nurse and pull-off method of nursing; a completely maddening way to feed a child. I don't miss fretting about what I've eaten and how much water I've consumed. I don't miss worrying about how much milk he's getting and how to increase my supply.

Overall, the weaning was easy and has been a good experience for both of us. MLO loves to drink his milk and snack every few hours. In addition to his milk cup, he has a water bottle that is always accessible to him. He doesn't seem to miss snuggling with me, and he certainly relishes feeding himself. As with everything so far, I register a deep significance, feel strongly these senses of loss and gain. MLO just keeps on keepin' on, living fully in each moment but always ready for the next. I have discovered there is no greater teacher than my 1-year old son. 

New Review

Be sure to check out the Stuff N' Clutter page for our newest review: baby shoes!

Have shoes, will travel.

Milestone alert: MLO is walking. Not just a few steps here and there, but exclusive use of the soles of his feet to move from point A to point B. This happened on March 29th. All of a sudden he decided that he preferred walking over crawling. I realized he had made this decision with one tiny action. I went to open the front door and from across the room he began to crawl toward me, then got up and essentially ran over to me. It wasn't coordinated or fluid, and he fell, but he got back up and walked over. That was it. He didn't really go back to crawling after that. So the next day MLO and I went to downtown San Luis Obispo, and holding my hand, we walked around. Not down the street, but the equivalent of about 2 blocks over a few hours. We moved at his pace, and ended up in a couple of places I hadn't intended to go. We saw goldfish in the pond at Growing Grounds and hippies in the square at the Mission. He made friends with young and old alike. He showed me things I hadn't bothered to notice before, like the bright new fire hose hook-ups on the sides of buildings and tiny hidden walkways behind locked iron gates. It was lovely: making friends with strangers, not feeling rushed, watching my son learn the ropes of sitting on a park bench or walking down a slope. I kept hearing "It goes by so fast. Savor it", and that day I did. I moved with my son, savoring his experience of life and being thankful for a slow day in SLO.

A Litany of Adorable Things

I often feel that my accounting of MLO's cuteness becomes weary to those upon which I inflict the descriptions. For those that care to know, here is a list of his most precious actions occurring in the weeks since he turned 1:

•  He has really begun to interact with the bath. After transitioning him to the "big kid's bathtub" he has taken to splashing emphatically while giggling hysterical, spontaneously dunking his face and waving goodbye to the bathwater as it slips down the drain. Freaking cute.
• MLO waves to everyone. I catch him waving at the dogs, complete strangers, the garbage truck and even to the sound of someone starting up their car and driving away.
• MLO produces animal sounds on command. Dog, cat, lion, elephant, monkey, gorilla, and owl.
• He walks.
• He shows affection. When our dog, Snoopy, allows MLO to get close enough to pet, the kid gently pats the dog's back. He also gently shoves his head into the dog while making a noise akin to a dog whine.When I ask for kisses I make the kissing sound MLO first learned as the "come" command for Snoopy, and my son lowers his head and gently butts it into my face making the whining sound. It's pretty damn sweet.
• He babbles and points incessantly. When I go get him after a nap he will slip out of my reach, sit squarely on his mattress and point at the pictures printed on his sheets. I go through each picture with him, saying the word and sometimes the color until he seems satisfied that he has it down. Then he allows me to pick him up.  

That's all that comes to mind at present. I hope it was as enjoyable to read as it was to recount.